NZ
Tongans' stake in Tongan development
Auckland based Tongan Advisory Council chair Melino Maka says local Tongans,
if only because of family ties, do not want to stand aside from dicussions
on the constitutional deveopment of the Kingdom.

Tokelauans and Tongans
overseas are two examples of Pacific citizens in 2005 who have migrated
wanting a say in the constitutional development of their country of origin.
NZ Tongan submissions to NZ Parliament
Earlier in 2005 his council helped mobilise Tongan submissions to a New
Zealand Parliamentary inquiry into the Tonga New Zealand relationship. The
committee report to Parliament calls for a dialogue between the Tongan Advisory
Council and the New Zealand Aid Agency, NZAID. A few years earlier the local
Tongans felt frustrated at NZAID cooperation with them when they wanted
to help their families receive hurricane relief.

Overseas Tongans brokering settlement
As political change stepped up in Tonga later in 2005, the Auckland Tongan
Advisory Council facilitated the participation of Hawaii based Tongan academic
Dr Sitiveni Halepua in brokering the strike settlement between Tongan public
servants and Tonga's government. Melino Maka says the Tongan community in
New Zealand want what is constitutionally best for Tonga - and is not for
a quick fix".

Support for political changePrince Tu'ipeleke MP, the King's nephew who reports Royal support
for political change, says New Zealand and other overseas Tongans have
a role to play in the political change discussions for the Kingdom. The
Prince, a noble, also acknowledges the importance of the remittances home
from the overseas Tongans.